Tag: soup

Today, spud duty calls – as it so often does – and I will be busy seeing and sampling all that the SPUDS.ie Tastefest has to offer. I will, in due course, report on the tuberous goings-on but, in the meantime – and lest you should find yourself feeling sad and spudless – I took the precaution of making some potato soup. This one has added beer, guaranteed to keep you cheery ’til I get back.

Potato and Beer Soup

This soup is a simple enough gathering of potatoes, onion, garlic and celery, but with beer for added body, and perked up by the addition of mustard, soy sauce and some grated cheese. It’s a recipe I did for the crew over at potato.ie and you can see what I had to say on the subject of soup – potato and otherwise – over here.

You’ll also need:

The Steps:

Place a large saucepan over a medium heat. When hot add vegetable oil to coat the pan. Add the onions and fry for around 10 minutes or until softened and starting to brown a little at the edges.

Add the garlic, stir and fry for around a minute, then add the potatoes and celery and fry for another 5 minutes more.

Add the stock, ale, soy sauce and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for around 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaf and blend the mixture using a handheld or other blender, leaving some chunks if you like.

Add mustard and black pepper to taste and more soy sauce if you think it needs it. Finish with a splash of sherry vinegar – only a small amount is needed to brighten the taste so gently does it – or you can try sherry or lemon juice for different finishing effects.

The soup will be fairly thick, so thin as desired with boiling water. To serve, ladle into bowls and sprinkle a little grated cheese on top. Some cheese toasties alongside would make it even better.

The Variations:

You could, to mix a metaphor, beef this up by adding some cooked ham or bacon. You could also experiment with different beers.